


The eyes of the night

by Varaen



Series: Fills for LLA 2017 [3]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-16 21:33:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10579917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Varaen/pseuds/Varaen
Summary: Two sisters, and the first moonrise.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For the Legendarium Ladies April 2017 April 5. General Prompt: The Forgotten People

It had been growing colder for some time now. Elves did not suffer from the cold, unlike the landbound animals that roamed the woods and plains, but she could not deny the effects it had on every single one of them. Estáe knew that there were young elves, almost adults in fact, who could not remember the balmy comfort of starlit nests and sandy shores. The sea had become too cold for comfort, and even the stars seemed dim. Prey was scarce, some crops had stopped growing completely, and she knew that her parents were debating the merits of moving. Where, and if it would help, no one knew, but something had to change if they were to survive.

She wondered, more and more lately, how Maʒáne was. Her brother had been her only direct relative to follow bright-eyed Finwë to the Land of Light with his wife and children, and she missed him still. Estáe could only hope that his dreams and wishes had been realized. She sighed. There was nothing she could do about her problems, and worrying about a brother she had not seen for longer than she had known him was an exercise in futility. She flopped down with a dramatic flourish and covered her eyes with her arm for a moment. She did not want to see the dull constellations that could not compare with her memories.

 

She must have fallen asleep. Lýnae was there, shaking her awake with a furious expression on her face.

“What are you doing here? You promised to go foraging, and now I find you lazing about? Estáe, please. You’re worrying me.”

She blinked.

“I am worried,” Estáe said. “It is… getting brighter? Lýnae, look!”

There was a luminescence ascending behind the treeline across the shore, stranger than anything she had ever seen. It was softer than the bright firelight of cooking fires and forges, but unlike the perennial starlight above, or the glowing constellations that dotted her skin. Neither was it similar to the flare of plankton on the shore, or the radiance of healthy vegetation. Estáe could not stop staring as the light grew brighter than anything she had ever seen, and brighter still as it rose higher into the sky, silver-white shining. All around them, stems and twines and branches turned towards the new source of light, leaves and flower buds unfurling and reaching for the sky.

Estáe laughed with joy overflowing and entwined her fingers with Lýnae. In the light of the new moon, they danced. For the first time in a long time, she had hope, although she did not yet know why.


End file.
